Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Former BBC News anchor Huw Edwards pleads guilty to making indecent images of children, BBC 'shocked', admits it knew he was arrested.


by Thinus Ferreira

The former BBC News anchor Huw Edwards has pled guilty in a British court on three charges of making indecent images of children, according to overseas reporting.

The BBC in a statement said it was "shocked"; also that it secretly was aware that Huw Edwards was arrested last year and released on bail.

On Wednesday morning the disgraced Huw Edwards - who was the BBC's highest-paid presenter and resigned in April this year after he was simply gone and off-air for 10 months before that - appeared at the Westminster Magistrates Court in London.

Huw Edwards pleaded guilty to the charges of sex abuse images of children as young age age 7 for Category A - the most serious classification, Category B and Category C images.

BBC News reports the three charges relate to 41 images that were shared on a Whatsapp chat between 2020 and 2022. For this he was arrested in November 2023 and charged in April 2024.

These charges are also separate from other claims that were reported last year and that led to the spectacular downfall of the BBC News anchor.

Huw Edwards was suspended by the BBC in July 2023 following shocking revelations of sexual misconduct and that he had been paying a teenager for sexually explicit photos. He was hospitalised with depression shortly afterwards.

The BBC said it was "shocked to hear the details which have emerged in court today. We want to reiterate our shock at Huw Edwards' actions and our thoughts remain with all those affected."

The BBC in a statement said it was in fact " made aware in confidence that Huw Edwards had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation".

"At the time, no charges had been brought against Huw Edwards and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health."

"In the end, at the point of charge he was no longer an employee of the BBC. During this period, in the usual way, the BBC has kept its corporate management of these issues separate from its independent editorial functions."

Huw Edwards will again appear in Westminster Magistrates Court on 16 September when he will be sentenced and will likely receive a jail sentence which can be up to 10 years in prison.